ARTICLES ABOUT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BY DATE - PAGE 2

KARACHI: Four lawmakers of Imran Khan's party today resigned from the Sindh Assembly, stepping up pressure on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down. Members of Sindh Provincial Assembly belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) submitted their resignations to the assembly secretariat. The four PTI lawmakers followed in the footsteps of their 31 colleagues in the National Assembly and 29 in the Punjab Assembly who have also sent in their resignations after cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan asked them to quit.

ISLAMABAD: Facing his toughest test since becoming Pakistan's Prime Minister, a defiant Nawaz Sharif today brushed aside the demand of protesters asking him to quit saying the country has survived "difficult times" and the current political crisis too shall pass. Political stalemate has continued for the last two weeks with Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) refusing to budge from their demand of the Prime Minister's resignation over allegations of rigging in last year's general election and killing of 14 PAT supporters in Lahore on June 17. "We have survived difficult times.

ISLAMABAD: A tense standoff continued in Pakistan today as overnight talks between the government and protesters demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation made little headway in breaking the political logjam. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri are protesting alleged vote rigging in polls last year and demanding Sharif's resignation and holding of fresh polls. Khan and Qadri had separately launched protests from eastern city of Lahore on August 14 to dislodge the 15-month-old government and have been camping in the capital since last Saturday with thousands of their supporters.

It's a new, surreal chapter in Pakistan's turbulent politics. Imran Khan , who didn't manage to translate promise into votes in the elections last year that swept Nawaz Sharif to power, now demands the latter's resignation based on the charge of rigging. Along comes a cleric from somewhere in Canada and behaves as if he's the new messiah; and both band together. Their demands, as they encamp with thousands of followers in Islamabad , are unrealistic, tantamount to losing parties refusing to accept a verdict and calling for the ouster of the elected government, amidst other demands like the resignation of the Punjab CM (the PM's brother)

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's National Assembly today unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the anti-government protesters' demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and dissolution of the Parliament. Protest leaders Imran Khan and Tahir-ul Qadri camping in the capital have demanded that Sharif should quit and assemblies be dissolved. The resolution by Mahmood Khan Achakzai also deplored derogatory, defamatory and inflammatory language used by the protest leaders in their speeches against the prime minister and parliament.

ISLAMABAD: Opposition leader Imran Khan's political party today decided to withdraw its representatives from the National Assembly and all provincial assemblies except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where it is in government, stepping up pressure on the Nawaz Sharif-led government to quit. "We are resigning from National Assembly, Punjab Assembly, Sindh Assembly, and Balochistan Assembly," Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the vice president of Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf (PTI) announced. He said, for the time being, his party is not resigning from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, as there is a coalition government in the province and the allies will have to be taken into confidence before making such a big decision.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, giving his first global speech to an audience of nearly 200 world leaders and foreign ministers at the annual gathering of the world body's policymaking organ. According to a first provisional list of speakers released here, India's "Head of Government" is scheduled to address the General Debate of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly on the morning of September 27. The UN General Debate, where presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and foreign ministers address the General Assembly, is scheduled from September 24 to October 1. The week of the General Debate is traditionally considered the busiest week of the year for international diplomacy as heads of states and governments along with their armies of diplomats, civil society members and business heads descend on the UN headquarters and discuss pressing global issues.

THIMPHU: Bhutanese MPs on Monday deviated from the custom of not clapping when they broke into an applause after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his extempore address in Hindi to a joint sitting of the Parliament here. In Bhutan, clapping is done to ward off evil spirits and not as a welcome gesture. The gathering, which included Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and members of the National Assembly and the National Council, broke into an applause as Modi ended his address to the joint session.

THIMPHU: Bhutan today saw a deviation in its tradition of not clapping to express appreciation as its MPs broke into a round of cheers when Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his extempore address in Hindi to a joint sitting of the Parliament here. In Bhutan, clapping is done to ward off evil spirits and not as a welcome gesture. The gathering, which included Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and members of the National Assembly and the National Council, however, cheered to applaud Modi.

ISLAMABAD: About 25,000 Hindus in Pakistan have been forced to migrate to India due to religious violence over the last five years, a PML-N leader from the minority community said today. Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani , who is also the patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council , alleged that the situation in Sindh province was acute and the migration is taking place from there. "I had asked a written question in the National Assembly after which I was informed that about 25,000 Pakistani Hindus have migrated to India in the last five years," Vankwani told PTI. He said at least six incidents of religious disturbance occurred within the last two months in Sindh.